> her beloved pit bull, Forty-Cal, had been missing for 11 years.
> He's super docile and friendly. Always has been.
Are pit bulls known for being docile?
> He's super docile and friendly. Always has been.
Are pit bulls known for being docile?
Years ago we fostered a lot of different dogs and the pit bulls were some of the nicest. But you have to pay attention to their strength. For example playing tug-o-war may end up in a shoulder injury because the pit bull will pull really hard.
Another problem is that a lot of idiots like pit bulls and make them aggressive.
The breed is great. They're just dogs; far less bitey statistically than many other breeds. The owners it attracts are the worst.
And the breed is super strong. When encouraged to be hyper-territorial and aggressive, the results are super-bad. A chihuahua bite should be followed with a doctor's visit; a pitty bite generally requires stitches.
---
Characteristics of 1616 Consecutive Dog Bite Injuries at a Single Institution
> Pit bull bites were implicated in half of all surgeries performed and over 2.5 times as likely to bite in multiple anatomic locations as compared to other breeds.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27400935/
---
Characteristics of Dog Bites in Arkansas
> family dogs represent a more significant threat than often is realized and that, among the breeds identified, pit bulls are proportionally linked with more severe bite injuries
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30075476/
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Morbidity of pediatric dog bites: a case series at a level one pediatric trauma center
> Pediatric dog bites span a wide range of ages, frequently require operative intervention, and can cause severe morbidity. Dog familiarity did not confer safety, and in this series, Pit bulls were most frequently responsible.
Only afterward did I realized I almost destroyed my livelihood.
My partner Google stalked the owner and discovered that he’d been force to surrender another pit bull two years earlier.
It's really really hard to watch.
What
By the way, good luck sticking your finger in a dog but when he is fighting... I think you didn't try it much before giving advices.
https://www.youtube.com/live/rHVyMHTb6l4?si=ZPkPtNP8_zcb_MIf
Not really. Even "old school" working catch dogs in this breed may require a break stick to get the dog to release game. In addition, the dogs are strong.
And that's really the crux of the problem.
Dogs will be dogs. They can be the nicest animal on the planet, but at some point a dog will bite you--maybe you did something stupid, maybe the dog accidentally got underfoot and got kicked, maybe the dog is just sick, maybe something agitated the dog, whatever. A bite will happen. The problem with pit bulls is that when they bite the damage is much more problematic than with other breeds.
And this is the real issue. Because of their strength, pit bulls (and a small number of other breeds) account for a disproportionate amount of deaths and hospitalizations relative to other breeds.
It also doesn't help that these types of dogs are disproportionately owned by jackasses.
I miss that dumb cat.
All dogs can be dangerous, even small ones can bite a finger out of your hand.
Either kill all the dogs or get people who own them to be responsible.
Because getting people to be responsible has worked as a solution for anything ...
<checks notes>
Ah. Exactly ... Never.
This is a breed that should be allowed to die out. They were bred specifically for fighting, and there is no good reason for them to exist. There are plenty of other dog breeds with equivalent characteristics that aren't such a danger to people.
Most dogs bred to hunt are bred to not excessively damage the animal being hunted. A hunted animal is of no use to a human if the animal is ripped up and has its intestines contaminating all the meat, for example. These dogs have been especially bred to tone down their aggressiveness.
If we step up to slightly bigger game like, say, bears, dogs being used in that case are not bred to latch and hold on as it will likely get them killed. The dogs are to distract and chase. It is not a good trade to swap a single dog for a single bear. Again, those dogs are being bred to to not have a too strong an aggressiveness.
Hunting dogs are meant for the human to deliver the fatal blows while the dogs mostly chase, distract and retrieve. This means breeding to prevent aggression from becoming too strong.
Dogs bred to fight are precisely the opposite. The are bred to have high aggression and high persistence even in the face of existential threats to themselves.
There is no reason to continue breeding pit bulls (or any other fighting dog). Period. There are far superior breeds of dogs for any characteristic you can choose.
Once the dog has demonstrated itself to be dangerous, there is not much you can do other than euthanasia. The worst thing you can do is bring it to a shelter and let an unsuspecting family take the dangerous dog in. A lot of trouble would be saved by choosing a similar looking dog breed that isn't as aggressive or dangerous.
There's some selection bias, obviously, but their reputation is definitely overblown.
The only time my dog was ever randomly attacked was a pitbull and you quickly learn talking to other dog owners how common this is. Nothing clears out a dog park like a pit bull showing up.
For example:
https://blog.dogsbite.org/2016/10/table-retrospective-level-...
https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-studies-level-1...
"pit bull" refers to a dog breed that was optimized for its performance (=more aggressive and dangerous) in the "pit".
Speak about natural instincts... I answer that some people have zero clue what to do with a dog.
I say we put down all these golden retriever too !
1. https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/five-things-to-know-abou...
2. https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/animals-and-pets/dogs/dog...
Ontario also tried to remove the pitbull ban, after the usual "it's owners the owners" protests, but a bunch of attacks happened again so they reinstated it.
I was at a friend's place with some others from school, we were about 14-15 years old, his family had this seemingly sweet pitbull, always wanting to be pet, super playful but kind. That day it attacked one of our classmates, out of the blue, we were sitting on the backyard, the dog playing with some rope toys, brought it to us sitting, this guy picked up the toy to throw it and before he could even started the motion this pitbull jumped on his face and started attacking.
It was so jarring, unexpected, and brutal that I got traumatised for life from pitbulls, I don't like to be close to them, don't like when I'm biking and there's one without a muzzle being walked around, and I don't want to pet one as much as it can look super friendly and calm. Seeing how fast it could turn into a murder machine even when growing up in a loving family that never trained it to be a guard/attack dog, and probably never treated the dog badly, made me very anti-pitbulls.
Most dog attacks in the country I grew up in are from pitbulls, including a few kids killed every year, the statistics don't lie. The breed requires people who aren't assholes so it doesn't become dangerous, I don't trust owners to do that, even more when it's a breed for "macho" guys to show off at the same time.
Probably a case of ressource guarding.
Many dogs are dangerous not because they are trained to but because people don't train them at all beside to sit and to lay down.
Dogs are certainly not psychopathe that attack out of the blue, they have motivations and reasonings. Most often a lack of education and socializing.
When I see people puting their dog in a cage at night and then puting them on a leash to walk it a few times per week, yeah, that's ticking bombs.
Most dog attacks aren't reported. Toy dog bites are often not reported.
Since then if I see a strange dog and the option is there I keep plenty of distance between it and me no matter what I take to be it's state.
I wouldn't have them around young kids because of that, if they accidentally hurt the dog like pulling on its ear wrong it isn't likely going to warn them, it will take it until the moment it decides it is too much and then possibly go for a full force bite on what seems like a reaction which can be deadly for a child. They also can be extremely protective, so if the dog perceives kids playing as a fight it might attack one of them thinking it is protecting another from harm.
Now don't get me wrong, it still isn't super common and I would have no problem owning one myself, provided there are no kids younger than teens. But it isn't a dog for someone to buy and then get annoyed at and ignore or not train well or get frustrated and hit them which can make them aggressive. People who take good care of their dogs will have a great dog, people who don't take good care of their dogs is risking a small chance of creating a time bomb.
Not all pit bulls are dangerous, in the right hands they are some of the nicest dogs I have seen, but yeah.
Personally I don't judge dogs anymore by their races but by their owner, I found it to be much more accurate.
And on a sidenote, this owner really doesn't inspire me much. When she say it was disheartening to loose this dog because she paid for it with her own money... That's the kind of things I hear from the low life with pits.
Lmao.
"Lmao."
Aggressivity isn’t instinctive, it’s learnt through experience or rather lack of.
Lmao xd lol wtf.
100 percent this dog is named after a bullet.
Because thats how Philly rolls.
In case you dont know:
HitchBOT got murdered in Philly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HitchBOT
Bill Burr's Philly set: https://www.reddit.com/r/cowboys/comments/1il5msw/in_honor_o...
Don't get me wrong Philly is great, but Philly is... something.
There is a self-selecting bias with pit bulls. People who buy and raise pit bulls often want a “mean” “tough” dog, so that’s what they get. You get a loving sweet pit bull if you raise them in a loving sweet way. Dogs are like children; they are very observant and pick up on even the tiniest of cues.
Although, like people, some dogs (of all different breeds) are born more aggressive. That can usually be corrected with training. It’s mostly nurture, and part nature.
The main problem with pit bulls, AIUI, is that they can be aggressive towards other dogs. Also, assholes buy them (due to their reputation) and then encourage aggressive behavior.
I've met some pit bulls owned by nice people and the dogs were super friendly and especially very tolerant of children.
Pit bulls have a long history as family dogs -- they're loyal, affectionate, and incredibly gentle with kids. The whole 'nanny dog' reputation exists for a reason.
An example... https://www.luccishouse.org/post/misunderstood-angels-the-hi...
My pit mix was actually a therapy dog for autistic children through a program at a local hospital in Austin. The kids would read to her while she cuddled up next to them, putting her paw on them gently when they were nervous or frustrated. The program was designed to help the kids build confidence by providing a social interaction where they wouldn't feel judged. And she was great at it. It was the highlight of her week getting to go to the therapy center.
I've had a lot of dogs in my life, and I've never had one more sweet or gentle than she was.
But look, any dog can be awful or wonderful. That comes down to the owner, the environment, and the individual animal way more than the breed -- and honestly, the whole concept of 'breeds' is a bit silly to begin with. But I get that people need to classify things. It's just dumb.
So, stop being a dog racist. (=
There is no historical basis for the contents of what was basically a chain letter.